Hi, just have afew questions, hoping someone can answer. We never received a book on the ship, so has anyone sailed on the Fortuna, and if so...what is it like? Also, what the prices for drinks etc.....can you purchase a card... We are going on our first cruise Jan 6th...

I haven't sailed yet but will in Feb. I did spend one night onboard last month with a group of agents prior to the first Caribbean sailing. The ship is very nice, clean and the staff was very friendly. This ship is very similar to Carnival lines in the color scheme. There is neon in the atrium and orange in the cabins. I did think it was easy to navigate around on. Lido area is very nice, and when I was there a good choice of food. Just keep in mind that this ship has been sailing in Europe and there may be lots of Europeans onboard. This is an Italian line so lots of that infulence all over the ship. Check out the murals throughout the ship, beautiful. Dinning rooms are large and the staff very helpful and entertaining. Food was good but I still think the smaller ships have much better food in the main dinning rooms. There are drink cards available and if memory serves me right they are $35.00. Cabins were nice and clean. I liked the layout of the bathroom area, not as confining as on other ships. Enjoy your cruise and give us a full report when you get back.

Hi Berty, welcome to Cruise-Chat. We sailed on the Magica last Christmas and are sailing on the Mediterranea in January. We had a blast on the Magica, she was a beautiful ship, really large cabins, loads of fun, and really good food. There was a soft-serve gellato machine on the lido and in the buffet area, where you could get free gellato every day. The pizza was good, but not as good as Princess. The toga party is really fun. I'm not sure if they will have the tour of Europe again, but on the Magica, they gave you a pretend passport and on the main deck atrium area they had different areas set up so you could taste the wine and the food from various regions. It was a lot of fun and some wonderful food, even though we were full from dinner. As travelgal states, they are comparable to Carnival, and have really competitive prices and you receive your money's worth (at least I felt you did). Hope you have a wonderful cruise and once again, welcome on board!

Betty
I e-mailed MSC over a year ago and asked for a brochure to be sent to me. I never heard from them, no brochure, no e-mail, no phone call nothing.I geuss they have all the bussiness they need.It seems they do not want new customers! Tom

My wife and I sailed on the Fortuna first week in December 07 for San Jaun, St Thomas, Dominican Rep and Nassau. We have cruised with RC before and this was our first with Costa. The boarding was very painless at Ft Lauderdale and although we were onboard early there was a buffet and music on deck for everyone to enjoy while the cabins were being made ready. The luggage arrived safe and we sailed. The cabin 8430 was fantastic and I never heard a complaint about any cabin. The staff fantastic.
You either have to register a credit card or leave a deposit and you get issued a card for any onboard purchase. If you hsve young ones travelling with you it is better to purchase a drinks ticket for them. (Covers soft drinks for the week)
We had a wonderful time and if you would like to see some photos www.campbellsphotos.co.uk please feel free to contact me vis the website if you require any further information. You will enjoy the cruise.
On the down side, I was not impressed buy the food.

Grumpyhead, Thanks a million for the photos. I will be sailing on the Fortuna Feb. 10th on the same itinerary as you were on. I was wondering what Catalina Island was like now I know. It will be our first Costa cruise and we are getting excited. Now that I have the Christmas rush over I can starting getting the summer clothes ready to pack. Again thanks for the photos.